2 C Coming On Faster Than We Feared — Atmospheric Methane Spikes to Record 3096 Parts Per Billion

It’s essential that policymakers begin to seriously consider the possibility of a substantial permafrost carbon feedback to global warming. If they don’t, I suspect that down the road we’ll all be looking at the 2°C threshold in our rear-view mirror. — Robert Max Holmes

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Unraveling the global warming puzzle is simple at its face, complex when you pierce the surface.

We know that burning fossil fuels, that the activity of mining coal, fracking for gas, and drilling for oil all result in dangerous greenhouse gas emissions. We know that the vast majority of these warming gasses are coming from fossil fuel based sources. We know that, now, the burning and mining and fracking and drilling have pushed atmospheric CO2 above 405 parts per million and the global concentration of all CO2 equivalent gasses to an amazing 485 parts per million CO2e (levels not seen in at least 15 million…

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This entry was posted on February 27, 2016 at 12:49 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
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4 Responses to “2 C Coming On Faster Than We Feared — Atmospheric Methane Spikes to Record 3096 Parts Per Billion”

Yes, I reported some months ago, can’t remember whether it was on my blog or Facebook, that global temperature rise had taken a turn for the worse. Up until recently the general reporting on this, going back several years, was that the during the industrial era there had been an overall rise of 0.8°C. Suddenly that changed a few months ago. I vaguely recall that it was around the time of the Paris talks. It was now being said that we were at a level of 1°C rise. I checked back and the 0.8°C was still being reported widely.

I wondered at the time whether this new rise had actually occurred within the last two years but hadn’t been reported until now, or at least the information hadn’t come my way. So, what if that were true? What if we had added another 0.2°C in something like two years?

Well, that is really significant, even if it is a steady rise ie. not an increasing rate. It would mean that we are on a track for at least 1°C rise in temperature every 10 years. Just consider that for a second.

By 2020, we reach the level where certain Pacific Island nations disappear underwater, a 1.5°C rise.

By 2025, we reach the dreaded, or should be dreaded, 2°C rise. Where life becomes quite uncomfortable and possibly unbearably dangerous.

By 2035, we reach at least 3°C rise where living in all but a handful of places becomes practically impossible.

And so on… Not a pretty picture …and makes nonsense of any puny attempts by humanity to stave off the inevitable.

Oh dear, I left something out. What I meant to say at the end of the first paragraph in my previous comment was: “I checked back and the 0.8°C was still being reported widely up to two years ago”. Hope that makes more sense.